Sunday, October 31, 2010

Download: The Joy - Kanye West feat. Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, and Charlie Wilso

Kanye and Jay-Z team up again for this weeks GOOD Friday music feast.  I can't feature the cover because it's a bit rude.  Reposted by PURE FUNK DANCE.

Download HERE

Friday, October 29, 2010

Video: Robyn - Indestructible

Robyn releases the third of her Body Talk series of mini-albums at the end of November.  Body Talk Part 3 will contain 5 tracks from each of the first two albums and then 5 new tracks. 

One track that will definitely be there will be new single and killer club track 'Indestructible', which once again finds Robyn pouring her heart out about her two favourite things - love and dancing.  She knows how to hit all the right emotional and musical notes once more, and personally I can't wait to check her out at Stereosonic on Dec 4th.


Robyn 'Indestructible' Official Video

Robyn | Myspace Music Videos


Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Video: Robot and humans do dance routine

The Japanese economy may have taken a bit of a pounding in recent years, but they are still at the forefront when it comes to technology and weird outfits.  This is the HRP-4C robot performing with a dance crew at the digital content expo in Tokyo last week.  It's the rise of the machines!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Video: Kanye West - Runaway (Full Movie) Review

By Bob Burt (PureFunk)

It has been called (by none other than Kanye himself) epic.  The 34 minute film clip for the single 'Runaway' is nothing less than that, and probably a bit more.  It has been compared favorably with MJ's 'Thriller', Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' and Gun 'N' Roses 'November Rain', three other music video's of similar magnitude.  So was it any good?  To answer that question I had to break it down into categories, which allows me to better describe exactly what I saw.  Let's start with the obvious one, Music.

Music
Epic.  Thrilling.  Tantalizing.  Hip Hop.  The songs we knew (Lost in the World, Runaway) held their own here, but it was the snippets of new music that should have everyone talking.  The big seller is undoubtedly 'All the lights', with its star-studded cast and triumphant trumpets making 'Run this town' sound like the high school marching band.  The tracks were all fantastic, and 'Blame Game' should have everyone going banana's over it's Aphex Twin 'Avril 14th' sample.

Visuals

Striking and somewhat random.  There were meteor's and deer, ballerina's and a sheep, and that's not even mentioning the 'Phoenix'.  Model Selita Ebanks is the titular bird, and she's something to behold.  The whole thing looks awesome, as you would expect, and the special effects aren't so over the top that they take away from rest of the video.  The clip involving 'Runaway' is especially good, with it's choreographed Ballerina's left to do what they do best, and Yeezy standing atop a white piano.

Acting
Don't go there.  Luckily Yeezy recognized his shortcomings as an actor and let the music do most of the talking.  The dialogue is a bit stilted, but there's not much of it, so you don't really notice.  Selita Ebanks does well in a what is her basically doing a bird impression.

Story
Again, not much to it, but you are here for the visuals and the music, and he delivers on both.  The story is that Kanye finds a phoenix on the road, takes it home to care for it and the next morning it soars back into the heavens in a ball of flame.  Doesn't sound like much and it isn't, but then again it doesn't need to be.

As an epic artistic statement it delivers, and as a music video, that is all you can ask for.  Don't go looking for meaning, just soak up the sounds and the visuals.  Check it below.



Saturday, October 23, 2010

Download: Kanye feat. Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco and Big Sean - Don't Look Down

 Kanye's 45 minute film for 'Runaway' premiered last night, and I'm looking forward to checking that out.  In the meantime, GOOD Friday has come once again, and this time it see Kanye teaming up with some close pals for another banger.  The album is coming soon, can't wait!



Friday, October 22, 2010

Video: Chris Brown - Yeah 3X

Chris Brown takes it to the streets in his new video, and I don't mean he's going all G-Unit on us.  The video depicts Chris rolling up and starting a block party with the locals, dancing and generally having a good time.  I hope they got a permit for that.

           
Chris Brown - Yeah 3x (2010) por tvparadamusical no Videolog.tv.

Stream: Ciara feat. Usher - Turn it up


Ciara had a lot of problems trying to find her groove on her last album 'Fantasy Ride'.  Her new album is produced by Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, who are quite proficient at producing albums that are thematic and have a concept, something Ciara's been lacking.

That said, Ciara does know how to make hits.  On her last LP, she teamed up with JT for 'Love Sex Magic' and it went top ten.  So this time, she brings in good buddy Usher for 'Turn It Up', hoping this time that single success will be enough to push her album.



Thursday, October 21, 2010

Video: Daft Punk join Phoenix at Madison Square Garden


Phoenix are a French band who made the leap into the mainstream last year with their massively awesome album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.  Such is their status, they now get to perform at places like Madison Square Garden.  With more than a sense of occasion, the four frenchmen brought out legendary dance robots Daft Punk during the encore, and this is how that went down.  Thanks to Pitchfork for the scoop.







 

Video: Latrobe University Lip Dub 'Learnalilgivinanlovin'

Anyone who's read any posts I've done about Lip dubs before, knows of my growing disdain for them.  I'll make an exception for this one though, as it's an all-Australian affair, which is something I've yet to see, on this scale anyway.  Enjoy Latrobe's extensive and well-put-together clip.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Video: Interpretive Church Dance Lady

 Without a hint of sarcasm, here is the one and only Interpretive Church Dance Lady, and no, I do not know what she is doing.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Video: One of the worlds best B-boy's - Lilou

Lilou is an outstanding French B-boy who, among other events, has won the Red Bull BC One tournament several times.  Besides being extraordinarily athletic, his style reflects his unique flexibility and engaging personality.

He is in the b-boy doco Turn it loose and runs with the Pockemon Crew back in France.  Interesting fact, dude also has a black belt in Kung Fu!



Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Essay: Dance and the remix culture

by Bob Burt - Pure Funk Dance Adelaide
In an era when all media is being reduced to bits and bytes and individual expression is devalued in favour of the grouped online experience, what role does dance play in present online community and where is it posited for the future?

I've decided to start with a style dear to my heart and possibly yours.

Hip-Hop

Dance and Hip-Hop have always gone hand in hand.  Ask any hip-hop enthusiast about the role dance plays, and they will immediately tell you it's one of the four elements (graffiti, mc'ing, dj'ing, b-boying).

Hip-hop as a musical medium has moved beyond it's geographical and sonic boundaries.  For example, Kanye West is the most popular rapper out there these days, yet in recent years he's leaned towards more electronic influences, whilst also auto-tuning his voice.  Although I'm cherry-picking, it's one of a number of signs that Hip-Hop has moved on from the staple two turntables and a microphone of yesteryear.

As genre-hopping in Hip-Hop continues to flourish and be accepted in the broader musical landscape, it moves further away from it's old-school roots, and from Hip-Hop dance.

Without the support of mainstream Hip-Hop, does this mean it's the end of Hip-Hop in dance?  Hardly. 

Rather than being choked of life without its musical backdrop, Hip-Hop dance has taken on a life of it's own.  Traditional B-boys and B-Girls and their crews are finding more and more avenues to grow and show their talents and creativity.

Comps and Battles are held all around the world every year, and competition is fierce.  Innovation fights against traditional consistency as battlers take cultural and musical influences to create new styles and ways of interpreting the original moves.

Dance TV shows are coming and going, but there are always more to take their place, and the lowest-common-denominator of the big screen, the dance movie, is still selling tickets.  The worlds awareness of a genre that was once known only to those with a love of New York Hip-Hop has been amplified by web innovations like Youtube and the permutations now seem endless.  So where is it going from here?

Creation has always been a staple of the B-boy culture.  Just check how many variations there on traditional breakdance moves and you'll see a movement that has branched out into strongly identifiable subcultures all their own. 

Maybe we'll see a move toward different types of dance styles based on a rise in popularity of different musical genres.  Already we see a lot of crews dancing to the hard, syncopated urban soundscapes of dubstep and grime.  Then again, considering the speed at which genre's like these build upon themselves and mutate, maybe we wont.  Who knows?

Technological advances online may propel Hip-Hop dance further into the spotlight, with it's rapid movements and musical accompaniment seemingly tailor-made for the short attention span of the present-day internet user.  

People may spend increasing amounts of time on Facebook and other social networking activities, but the human community still values real life connections, and so it begs the question, will we humans prefer in the future to actually participate in Hip-Hop dance, or will be satisfied immersing ourselves in downloaded dance media?   




RedBull BCOne 2010 Trailer from action.by on Vimeo.


Poreotics at Fusion X from Cindy Torrey on Vimeo.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Download: Dont Stop! - Child Rebel Soldier (Kanye West, Pharrell Williams & Lupe Fiasco)

 Pharrell, Kanye and Lupe ganged up on Hip Hop a while ago as CRS and dropped the promising 'Us Placers'.  It's nice to see them back together for GOOD Fridays throwing down freestyles over a loose Neptunes-like beat.

Get it HERE

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Video: Pure Funk Dance Adelaide perform @ Poreotics Tic Tic Tour, Oct 2nd 2010

The Pure Funk Dance Adelaide Advanced Team put on a Hip Hop show at Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide on Oct 2nd. 



purefunk.com.au
search for Pure Funk Friends on Facebook

Here's some old Youtube routines for comparison...

ScorcherFest March 2009



Rundle Mall Dec 2009

Video: Ne-Yo Performs “One In A Million” On Dancing With The Stars

You gotta love Ne-Yo.  He's an artists artist.  He burst on to the scene with 'So Sick' and wrote 'Irreplaceable' for Beyonce, and he's still out there four years later selling records and putting out quality music. 



Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Stream: NERD feat. Daft Punk - Nothing

The Robot Rockers known as Daft Punk join forces with sexy-funk progenitors N.E.R.D. for a smoothed out funk collabo. 

N.E.R.D. - Hypnotize U (Produced By Daft Punk) by Hypetrak

Nothing

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Video: Kanye West performs Power and Runaway on SNL


After the unofficial leak of 'Lost in the world' this week, Kanye got all mad on us and threated to boycott GOOD Fridays!  Thankfully he was just joshin' and here we go again with another long (7 minutes) tracks loaded with guest verses.

Get it HERE




Also, two of the best tracks Kanye has released lately are 'Runaway' and 'Power', and he unleashed both of those live on SNL this weekend.  





Friday, October 1, 2010

Download: Chris Brown feat. Kanye West, Drake, T.I., Andre 3000, Tyga & Fabolous – Deuces (Remix)


Chris Brown knows how to make hits, and I'm not talking about the ones he landed on his ex-girlfriend.  So whilst his dubious private life makes it difficult to hear his songs, there is no doubting his chart-topping prowess and ability to attract high-profile guest verses.

This track is loaded with them, in what may be the most star-studded track of the year.

Download HERE

 

Video: Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon do Evolution of Hip-Hop medley


FutureSexLoveSounds is over four years old, can you believe it?  Of course you can, that shit is old!  So, we're all waiting around to see when Mr. SexyBack will drop another R&B classic on us, thinking to ourselves, when's it going to happen?!?!

Unfortunately, that time is not now, but instead, JT and Jimmy Fallon summoned up the mighty power of the Roots for a medley into the history of rap.  Very nice, but this is not an album Mr Timberlake, get back in the studio!